


Head Over Feet

by Katybug1992



Series: Head Over Feet [1]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: 2018-2019 NHL Season, Alpha Brady Tkachuk, Alpha Jonathan Toews, Alpha Jordan Binnington, Alpha Matthew Tkachuk, Alpha Patrick Kane, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, And Cup celebration, Eventual Smut, M/M, Omega Colton Parayko, Omega Robert Thomas, but only for a little, courting, omega jaden schwartz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:14:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: Colton just really want Jordan to make his move already.Jaden just really wants the Alphas on his line to stop acting like they’re his Alphas and for the Alphas Courting him to not be obnoxious.And Rob just wants everyone happy.
Relationships: Colton Parayko & Jaden Schwartz & Robert Thomas, Colton Parayko/Jordan Binnington, Jonathan Toews/Jaden Schwartz/Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk/Robert Thomas/Brady Tkachuk
Series: Head Over Feet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567534
Comments: 10
Kudos: 48





	Head Over Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Focuses mostly on Parayko/Binnington and their journey. I may do other installments focused on the other two pairings.
> 
> Title from "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette.

1)

It’s hard to look at Colton Parayko and see an Omega. Jordan’s known him for years and still tends to forget his Omega status given his sheer size.

But then there’s times like tonight, when all three of the Omegas on the team are close to their heats and Colton is bouncing around the bar they’re all in in Chicago looking slightly better than normal - which Jordan did not think was possible - that he is reminded that Colton is an attractive, available Omega. Eddy’s supposed to be on Colton duty right now, but it looks like Thomas has pulled him into a discussion and Schwartzy is hovering close by - always more alert and in “mama bear-mode” when heat’s close, eventually actually joining them when Rob yanked him over and tucked himself under Jaden’s arm. Jordan has to look away, especially when Colton’s shirt rode up just enough and he really does not want his train of thought to continue or he’ll never live it down.

He allows himself to be distracted by Fabs and Dunner joining him.

“Where’s Blaiser?” he asked, scanning for the younger of their Frenchies.

“He’s trying his luck with Rob.” Fabs replied with a grin, gesturing to where Sammy seemed to be begging Thomas for a dance.

“Isn’t he already claimed by the Tkachuk boys?”

“Not officially, but yes.” Dunner nodded.

“And Sammy wants to get on their bad sides why?”

Fabs and Dunner just laughed, especially when Sammy hightailed it away from Rob at the scathing look Jaden gave him.

The night passed on rather uneventfully. It had been a day game, and a win, and they weren’t pulling out of the hotel until 9 the next morning, and had the rest of the day off when they got back to STL, so no one was really concerned with staying out too late or remaining particularly sober. And it was only eight.

“Dude!” Eddy laughed, pointing toward the dance floor, “Look at Schwartzy!”

All eyes zoomed to their oldest Omega, who was tightly sandwiched between the Blackhawks’ star Alphas, engaging in a fiery liplock with Toews while Kaner had a tight grip on his hips and was placing kisses and bites along Jaden’s neck.

“What the hell!?” Steener exclaimed, eyes wide and spinning to look at Schenner and Vova, who were both preoccupied glaring at the three on the dancefloor, “When did they get here?!”

“Were you expecting them?” O’Ry looked over at the Canadian/Swede - it was a common debate in the locker room and really anywhere more than a couple of the guys happened to be.

“They tend to show up wherever Schwartzy is when we’re in the same city.” Jay Bo was kind enough to reply after Steen stalked over to Jaden’s linemates and grabbed them, pulling them to the other side of the bar, “Usually Schwartzy lets them flirt a little, he gets them worked up, and then he shuts them down. This…. this is not normal.”

“This is Schenner and Vova’s fault.” Colton informed, practically bouncing over, “They tried to demand Jaden stay at the hotel tonight. They were going to stay with him but you know how Schwartzy gets whenever anyone gets demand-y with him.”

“Why were they wanting just him to stay in?” Eddy asked, “All three of you are close to your heats.”

“He’s just a little closer.” Colton replied, wincing a little, “And, the rate they’re going at it and how pissed he is at Schenner and Vova, they may finally be getting that fuck they’ve been wanting.”

“Someone gonna stop it?” Fabs asked, eyes widening as Jaden broke the kiss with Toews in favor of leaning back and gripping Kane’s hair before pulling him into a kiss while the ‘Hawks’ captain took over leaving marks on the arched neck.

“It’s usually Vova who interrupts when Jaden gets a little too caught up with anyone but I have a feeling it won’t be good for him if he goes over there.” Colton shrugged, laughing as Jaden broke the kiss with Kane to snap something at Toews, who smirked in response.

“Petro, you gotta do something.” Schenner hissed as he, Vova, and Steener rejoined the group.

“Why me?” Petro asked, eyes wide as he tried to avoid looking at the dance floor.

“Because if me or Vladi go over there, he’ll kill us.” Schenner replied, “But if no one goes over there, he’s going home with Toews and Kane. You’re the Captain. Go Captain him away from them.”

Jaden pulled away from Kane long enough to send a smug look toward his linemates before closing his eyes and dropping his head back onto Kane’s shoulder as he continued to let the two of them lead him in this dance they were doing.

“Maybe you should let him have this.” Colton replied, “Schwartzy wouldn’t be letting them do that to him if he didn’t want them to. And, yeah, they get on his nerves… a lot… and he really can’t stand them most of the time… but…”

“What do you know, Parayko?” Gunny cut him off.

“Not much.” Colton looked down.

“Thomas?” Steener turned his gaze to the rookie Omega.

“Nothing!” Rob replied, also looking away.

“Colt. Buddy,” Eddy grinned, “Please. Share with us.”

Colton sighed, glaring at Eddy before saying, “They’ve been sending him Courting gifts.”

The words left his mouth in a rush and he winced at little as every veteran on team yelled “What!?” in nearly perfect unison.

“And he didn’t think about telling anyone this?” Vova’s eyes flashed.

“It’s a recent development.” Colton replied, “And he hasn’t formally accepted them anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Steener looked confused.

Colton sighed like it was painful for him to have to explain this, which it kind of was. Half of these guys had gone through the mating process, granted their Significant Others were mostly Betas, but still. He shared a look with Rob, who quickly looked away to let Colton know he was on his own. Finally, he said, “So, like, they can send anything they want, right? BUT they’re not officially courting him until Jaden acknowledges the gifts and formally accepts them.”

“How would he formally accept?” Vova asked, looking confused.

“Did none of you court your mates?” Rob asked, looking offended on behalf of their significant others. Sighing, Rob said, “Okay, so… for example, Brady and Matty asked for my permission to begin the Courting process. That’s standard. When I said yes, that’s when they start the Gift Process. They’re not usually anything big, just symbols that they have the ability and means to support me both physically, mentally, emotionally, really anyway that I would need. However, in order for the Courting Process to become officially a go, I had to formally respond to them something like, ‘I officially accept your gifts as proof of your ability to be a good mate’, something along those lines.”

“And Jaden hasn’t done that yet.” Colton replied, “You only officially accept when your inner Omega is pleased.”

“So even though I knew I was going to accept anyway, I still had to wait until my instincts were happy.”

“And Jaden is constantly at war with his instincts. So who knows what’s going on inside that head at any given time. He has admitted that some of the gifts have actually been meaningful and thought out.”

“And the others?” Schenner’s eyes narrowed as Toews began whispering in Jaden’s ear.

“He did not appreciate the dildo.” Colton shook his head.

“He send it back?”

“Sure.” Colton and Rob both immediately looked away.

Before anyone could say anything else, Jaden came back over, grabbing his coat off of his long abandoned chair. 

“Heading back to the hotel.” Jaden grinned, thankful to get his own room on this trip.

“Please remember who’s on the other side of the wall from you.” Colton pouted over at him.

“I’ll try.” Jaden smirked before shooting Schenner and Vova pointed looks as he joined the two Chicago Alphas and let them lead him out of the bar.

“What was that about?” Petro raised an eyebrow.

“Just letting us know that he’s going with them, partly, out of spite.” Schenn replied, “Also a reminder that we are not his Alphas.”

“Not that we are stupid enough to want that job.” Vova muttered, throwing back the rest of drink, “It’s hard enough looking after him as it is.”

“Be honest,” Pear pointed a finger at Colton, “you think he’s going to accept?”

“I think that, eventually, when he starts listening to what he actually wants, yes,” Colton nodded, “He’ll eventually realize that those two tick every one of his boxes AND they don’t take any of his shit. Also, he’s waaaaay too much for just one Alpha to handle. Way too much. In many ways.”

Vova’s eye twitched at that and Colton laughed, “You don’t have to worry. He’s stubborn, it’ll probably be, like, a year before he formally accepts.”

“Wait,” Eddy’s eyes narrowed, “does he still have the dildo?”

“Why?” Colton huffed out a laugh, “You wanna borrow it?”

“No.” Eddy glared, “I was just curious.”

“He was gonna burn it and send the video to them.” Rob replied.

“But?”

Again Colton and Rob looked away, Colton perking up as a new song played, “I love this song!”

With that, he dragged Jordan with him on to the dancefloor, Eddy laughing wildly at the bewildered look on Binner’s face.

Jordan tried to focus on the music, it was a pretty good song, and keeping up with Colton, and absolutely not thinking about how good Colt smelled or how much his inner Alpha wanted to completely dominate the larger male (and exactly how long he had been wanting to do that).

He wondered, briefly, what it would be like to Court Colton. He’s not nearly as stubborn and willing to defy all his instincts as Jaden is, but also not nearly the typical Omega Rob was. He was a mix of those two, which led to a lot of questions that Jordan did not want to admit to wanting the answers to.

But he allowed Colton to distract him, letting the blond pull him closer. It really wasn’t fair that on top of everything Colton was good at, he had to be a good dancer, too. It would make Jordan’s life so much easier if he was a bad dancer at best, a dorky dancer at worst. Why couldn’t he be as bad as Dunner?

Speaking of which Dunner had joined them on the dance floor and he should really learn to control his limbs better. Blaiser telling him that much as he almost smacked Rob in the face.

They got back to the hotel and Colton and Fabs ask if they can bunk with Binner and Eddy due to sharing a wall with Jaden, naturally it’s quickly agreed upon. A slightly drunk Eddy cheerfully chatting about a slumber party while slinging his arm around Fabs and dragging him down the hall.

“I’m sharing your bed with you.” Colton nudged Binner, “I’m a little too close to my heat to be sharing a bed with the octopus that is Eddy.”

“I promise to give you all but a sliver of the bed.” Jordan grinned up at him in response.

Colton laughed before letting Jordan hurry them along to actually let Eddy and Fabs into the room since Eddy had left without his key.

Jordan woke up curled around Colton and feeling more content than he remembered feeling before and he quickly shook that off as an exaggeration. Colton stirred too, moments before his alarm went off, waking Eddy and Fabs who both let out a string of curses and Eddy yelped as Fabs shoved him off the bed.

“Come on, Fabs.” Colton dragged the other male out of the room.

“But what if they’re not done?” Fabs whined.

Colton just rolled his eyes, thankful that they had showered in Eddy and Binner’s room the night before so they just had to change and pack up before going down to breakfast. He didn’t think Kane and Toews would still be in Jaden’s room but having a game plan on the chance that they were was not a terrible idea.

Colton and Fabs set their bags down with the rest of the luggage before going into the restaurant for breakfast, spotting Jaden immediately. The Omega was settled between Schenner and Vova, dressed in his plane suit, neck covered in red blotches, his eyes closed and his head on Vova’s shoulder.

“All’s forgiven, I guess,” Binner shrugged, sliding into the booth next to Colton.

Colton just laughed, “Pro tip: Don’t talk to him until he talks to you.”

“Really?” Binner gave Colton a doubtful look.

“Because Jaden’s Jaden he ignores his instincts and takes a higher dose of suppressants than necessary, so his heats take a lot out of him.”

“Schwartzy gets grumpy.” Eddy laughed, “And my favorite activity is to ask him stupid questions while he’s trying to sleep it off.”

“Why?” Binner’s entire face scrunched up into one of confusion, wondering - not for the first time - if Eddy was insane. He may not have been with the team very long, but he got the sense that Schwartzy was not one to be messed with.

“Because he’s too exhausted to actually retaliate in the moment.” Edds grinned back.

“But you don’t get off scot free.” Colton rolled his eyes, “Petro makes you run the gauntlet, at least, three times the following practice.” 

“Yes, but it amuses me in the moment.”

“I would suggest leaving him alone today.” Colton responded, “He can barely keep his eyes open, he hasn’t really eaten anything, and he’s bound to be sore.”

Eddy bounced over to Schwartzy, receiving two glares and a middle finger before he even got a word out.

“I’m sore, I barely have a voice, I’m tired, and if you ask me even one slightly dumb question, I will make you pay.” Schwartzy tone was dark and conveyed that he meant every word, even if his eyes didn’t open at all.

Edds must have decided that it wasn’t worth it and quickly made his way to the buffet.

“Hungry?” he asked, eyeing the two plates Binner was preparing.

“Fixing Colt’s for him.” Jordan replied.

“Really?” Eddy’s eyes lit up as he found a replacement for the joy that bugging a heat-tired Schwartzy usually brought him.

“His grandparents called as he was getting up.” Binner shot Joel a look, “I told him I would fix his plate.”

“Uh-huh,” Joel nodded, “Providing for him, one would say.”

“We,” Binner gestured between himself and Joel, “are not having this conversation, ever, least of all here, where all our teammates are.”

Joel threw his head back and laughed, but let the topic go for the time being.

When it was time to load into the bus, Jaden pushed Eddy back down into his chair a little harder than necessary as he walked by, shooting him a glare as Schenner chuckled and ushered him along, promising to be his personal pillow on the plane.

“Serves you right.” Colton smirked, standing up.

“I didn’t even do anything.”

“It’s the thought that counts.”

Colton ended up flopping down next to Binner on the plane smiling as Jaden was already passed out on Schenner, or almost passed out. He could, apparently, sense Rob’s concerned glances because he cracked an eye open and said, “Come here, Robby.”

Rob immediately stood up and took the seat on the couch on the other side of Jaden and happily let the older Omega pull him down so that they were cuddled up and Jaden was still able to sleep on Schenner.

“You want to join the Omega pile?” Binner asked, looking over at Colt.

“I’m okay.” Colton laughed, “Robby is still a pup and Jaden’s the team’s hockey mom.”

“I am not.” Jaden mumbled.

“Get some sleep,” Schenner muttered, playing with Jaden’s hair, “You need it. I’ll give you a ride home. Colton got a ride to the airport from Eddy, so he can drive your car to yours and I’ll take him home from there.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you.” Jaden mumbled.

“I know.” Schenn smiled fondly down at him, “You apologized to me and Vladi several times this morning when we were trying to get you to eat. If we didn’t know better, we would have thought you were drunk.”

“‘M tired.”

“Sleep. I have you.”

Colton couldn’t help the small smile that graced his face he watched Jaden actually give him, his body relaxing fully and breathing evening out immediately. He shook his head fondly and let Eddy pull him into whatever stupid argument he and Fabs were having (something about a bear verses a Moose, Jordan really didn’t care to find out how that started) and ignoring Binner has he commented about how easy it was to get Colton to do anything.

2)

The first time Jordan sees the full brunt of Mama Bear Jaden is when they’re playing Dallas during the regular season. One of the Dallas players used his Alpha Voice on Rob, who immediately dropped. The young Omega wasn’t prepared for it, not expecting a trick that dirty to be played in the freaking NHL. The whole bench is up and the Blues trainer is on the ice, Ott keeping a hand on Schwartzy’s shoulder to keep him on the bench and Vova grabbing him to try to keep him from fighting off Otter’s grip. 

Rob still isn’t coming out of the headspace he had been forced into and Petro and Steener are both arguing with the Ref, who kept insisting that since he didn’t hear it, he can’t call a penalty. Which Binner, and the rest of the guys, think is complete bullshit. The effects of an Alpha Voice being used can’t be faked, not convincingly. Seguin looking as pissed off as the Blues bench, Benn having to keep a grip on him as he spoke furiously with his coach and shared some choice words with his teammate.

The trainer calls for Jaden’s help and Jaden is at Rob’s side before anyone could say another word, kneeling down and rubbing his back. He slowly eases Rob up, tucking the younger Omega’s face into his neck and matching their breaths, muttering assurances and words of comfort, being the pillar of strength that Rob desperately needed at that moment.

Colton had never been more grateful for Jaden Schwartz than in that moment. He hadn’t been put under like that since he first presented and, for the life of him, he could not remember what to do to help someone who had.

“I’m good,” Rob is finally able to reply, “I’m back.”

Jaden pulls his head back and searches his face, verifying that he is, indeed, back.

“Are you good to keep going?”

“Yeah.”

Rob pulled himself up and made his way to the bench, Jaden right behind him, eyes narrowing in on the perpetrator, asking coach to put him out next time the Alpha was on the ice. 

Binner winced at the hit Schwartzy laid on the guy, perfectly timed so that the ref wasn’t looking. And when the player went to retaliate, well, it only made sense that Colton interjected and grabbed the guy. After all, he did way outsize Jaden, not that he was close to Colton’s size either.

The game ended and you would not know they won by the way Jaden beelined over to Rob as soon as he walked into the locker room.

“What do you need?” Jaden asked before Rob could say anything, “You need Matty? Brady? Both of them?”

“I think I’ll be fine.” Rob smiled slightly, “Maybe just movies tonight?”

“We’ll make a nest when we get to the hotel.” Jaden nuzzled the young Omega briefly before going to his stall, ignoring all of Eddy’s hockey-mom comments and telling Borts that he was rooming with Sammy now.

“I was going out tonight, anyway.” Borts shrugged.

“You joining us, Colt?” Dunner asked, obviously expecting him to say yes.

“Nah,” Colton shook his head, “joining the movie night. Schwartzy can’t put a nest together to save his life.”

Jaden rolled his eyes but Rob’s lit up.

“I can build a nest just fine.” Jaden rolled his eyes, “Just because you’re a perfectionist doesn’t automatically make you the best nester.”

Colton just grinned at him in response.

Whatever better mood Schwartzy was in evaporated quickly when he got asked to do a post-game interview.

“No, it was bullshit.” Jaden’s tone was hard when he got that question, “You shouldn’t be able to force another player into that headspace. It’s dangerous. Especially when it’s unexpected and done by an unfamiliar Alpha. It’s a call that should always be made. The effects can’t be faked and it’s always obvious when it happens. Ask any Omega in the League, they’ll tell you the same thing.”

Apparently, they took his advice because that seemed to be the question of the night, all having the same response, adding that it was lucky that the Blues had more than one Omega on their team because the chances of an Alpha or Beta being able to pull Rob out of the headspace in time for him to be able to finish out the game and/or be mentally okay after were pretty slim. Sequin mentioned that he had a quick post game meeting with Coach and Benn to establish that it was never to happen again. Marner called Rob shortly after they got on the bus, with his typical freakily good timing, to check on him (he had been in a bar with the Leafs when the it happened, had watched as Rob struggled to come back up, immediately calling Leafs PR to give them a heads up that he would be making several statements about it). 

A couple Alphas had gotten asked what they thought, one of them being Eric Staal, who replied that it was never okay and that he had seen Jared be forcibly put into that headspace during a game and he didn’t come out of it fully for almost twenty-four hours, that Thomas was lucky to have other Omegas on his team.

Rob led the way up to Jaden’s room, taking the key out of Schwartzy’s hand while he was distracted by his conversation with Petro.

“Hurry up!” Rob whined, maybe stomping his foot a little.

Jaden rolled his eyes, but wrapped it up, flipping off their Captain as he said, “Have a good night, mama.”

“Text me if you need anything.” Vladi muttered, getting a withering look in return.

“Let Matty and Brady know you’re okay,” Jaden instructed, closing the door behind him, “I’ll let Walt know.”

Rob nodded, doing as told before grabbing a pair of joggers out of his bag and changing, the other two doing the same. He and Colton settled onto the too small bed, putting Jaden between them because he was by far the smallest and easiest to manhandle into the desired pillow position.

“Movies or trashy tv?” Jaden asked, only sounding a little put out as Rob curled around him like an octopus.

“Trashy tv.” Rob muttered, tucking his face into Jaden’s neck and breathing in the comforting scent.

“Don’t you dare fall asleep.” Jaden muttered as Colton maneuvered them so that he was also wrapped around Schwartzy, more covering the smaller male than ocotupus-ing him, “There is not enough room on this bed for the three of us, let alone for the three of us to sleep.”

“Whatever you say, Schwartzy,” Rob mumbled from Jaden’s lap. He may be a rookie but he knew as well as Colton did that Jaden was not going to make them move. He’d grumble about being stiff tomorrow but he wasn’t going to break up their nest just to move one of them to other bed.

Colton didn’t know what time they fell asleep, but when he woke up, the tv was playing infomercials and Jaden had curled up around Rob, the younger Omega curled even tighter into Jaden. He shook his head with a smile. Jaden really was the hockey mom for most of the team, even if they all had different hockey dads. Vladi had any Russians, O’Ry was definitely Rob’s, Pear had Sammy, Petro and J Bo seemed to split the D-Corps with Gunny somehow getting to just be the “fun uncle”.

He checked the time and groaned when he saw it was only three in the morning. Flipping off the tv he settled back in against Jaden, arm tightening around the smaller Omega’s waist and shoving his face back into Jaden’s neck, letting the comforting scent and even breaths lull him back to sleep. 

He didn’t wake up again until Jaden elbowed him sharply, bitching about how he was too hot for it being this early in the morning and for not being in heat. He pulled himself out of bed, somehow managing to get himself out of Rob’s grip, which was super impressive.

When Jaden re-emerged from the bathroom, he sighed, “You okay, Robby?”

“Back to normal.” Rob smiled sleepily from where he was attempting to replace Schwartzy with the pillow the older male had been using.

“In that case, get up.” Jaden grabbed a suit from his bag, “We have breakfast in thirty then the bus to the airport.”

“Can I sit by you on the plane?” Rob cracked an eye open.

Jaden rolled his eyes but agreed, making Colton laugh. If Rob were a worse person he could get Jaden to do anything for him today. Lord knows Joel would if he were in Rob’s shoes. But Rob would never take advantage of his hockey mom...unless it was needed because the youngest was feeling clingy.

They walked into the hotel restaurant together, Jaden doing one last check on Rob before heading over to Schenner and Bozie as Rob joined Barbie and Colton was grabbed by Eddy and shoved into the seat next to Binner.

“Everything good?” Jordan asked, eyes flicking over to where Jaden had draped himself over Schenner and was stealing bits of food off the Alpha’s plate while stealing Vova’s coffee.

“Yeah,” Colton smiled watching as Jaden’s linemates indulged him, not even rolling their eyes at his slight dramatics, “Rob’s fully back to normal.”

“And Schwartzy?” Fabs asked, “Is he out of Mama Bear mode?”

“Yeah,” Colton laughed, “if he’s ever actually out of Mama Bear mode.”

Fabs laughed at that but it didn’t make it any less true. Jaden was good at hiding it, very good at hiding it, but it was always just beneath the surface and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of it. Even Eddy behaved himself when that side of Jaden was out.

Jordan couldn’t help but wonder if Colton also had that side of himself. He guessed he did. He was more likely than Schwartzy to shove guys around on the ice. Binner looked over at the Schwartzy the team knew and laughed a little to himself. People thought he was emotionless, but the version of himself that Jaden showed to the media, during games, in the locker room to a certain extent… it was different than the Jaden outside of the game.

“Tank,” Schwartzy whined as Vova got up, leading to Jaden falling into the open seat.

“I’m getting you a coffee of your own since you drank all of mine,” Vladi chuckled, turning a quick glare at Eddy, who had opened his mouth to comment, “Don’t even think about calling me that.”

“Why does Schwartzy get to?” Joel whined, “Is he your favorite?”

“Yes.” Vladi didn’t even look at Eddy as he went over to the Starbucks across the lobby while Jaden sat, leaning on Schenner, looking pleasantly smug as his food arrived. When Vladi returned, he set Jaden’s coffee down in front of him, muttering, “Spoiled”.

Jaden grinned his thanks, scooting over so he was half in Schenner’s chair and Vladi took the other half of what had been fully his own chair.

Jordan was snapped out of it when Colton’s food arrived and he moaned a little as he took a bite of the waffles. Binner felt his eyes widen and he quickly grabbed his coffee cup, making a point to focus his gaze on the bitter beverage than look over and risk seeing Colton trying to get the syrup on his chin off with his tongue. Because it was too early to see that.

3)

The first practice after Jaden’s hatty in Winnipeg, he walked into the locker room to find his stall overflowing with two overly large bouquets of flowers and a couple other smaller boxes.

His eyes narrowed and he scanned the faces of his teammates who were already there, looking for hints as to who the perpetrator was. When none of them look sufficiently guilty he stalked over and grabbed the card.

“I’m gonna kill them.” he muttered, glaring darkly at the presents.

“Woah.” Scheener whistled lowly as he walked in.

“That’s sweet of them!” Rob grinned over at Jaden, “Sending their congratulations.”

Jaden just sent him a withering glare in response.

“What the hell?” Petro asked, walking into the room trailed by Vova and Steener, fresh from their Captains Meeting.

“Why are they so dumb?” Jaden muttered. Picking up one of the boxes, he looked at the label on it and quickly put it back down, “Oh, yeah, they’re dead.”

“I’ll help you take everything out to your car.” Colton laughed, picking up the bouquets.

“Wanna come over for a bonfire tonight?” 

“You’re not gonna burn it.” Rob laughed, helping gather the boxes up, “You’re gonna call them and bitch them out, but you won’t actually follow through on the threats.”

“You don’t know that.” Jaden muttered.

“You said the same thing when you got the dildo.” Colton replied, trying to keep from laughing, “I have the texts you sent.”

“Yes, but that was delivered to my house.” Jaden huffed, “Half of these boxes are from that same company.”

“Oh, yeah,” Colton muttered to himself, “he’s gonna kill them.”

“Let’s just get this in my car before -”

“Someone’s popular!” Joel exclaimed walking into the room.

“Shut your mouth, Edds!” Jaden snapped, glaring darkly at his Problem Child (Colton had dubbed him that and Jaden was not going to argue a losing fight).

The “gifts” managed to make it into Jaden’s car without any of his teammates getting a hold on one of the boxes, which was really the only thing Jaden was thankful for at the moment as he was going to spend the whole practice (and probably the next week until something else happened to distract the guys) getting chirp about his Chicago Alphas.

And if Eddy got boarded a little harder than normal by Jaden, well…. Colton couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it.

And if Jordan had a hard time not focusing on Colton, who was making a valiant effort to not seem like he was enjoying the shit Jaden was getting, then that was just for Jordan to know.

They finish practice and Binner laughed as some of the guys definitely tried to listen in on Jaden’s phone call.

“He’s gonna say yes.” Colton says with confidence as he sits down next to Jordan, toweling his hair dry.

“Yeah?” Binner raised an eyebrow.

“They don’t want him to be anyone but who he is.” Colton replied, “They thrive off of how difficult he is, off of how stubborn he is. And they love when he’s pissed at them. Apparently it leads to great phone/skype/heat sex.”

“I really did not want to picture Schwartzy in a Blackhawks sandwich, so thank you for that image.” Jordan replied.

“Then you should be really grateful that Edds didn’t get a hold of one of those boxes.” Colton shot him a wide smile, biting the tip of his tongue slightly because he was a little shit sometimes.

Jordan sent him a glare in response. It really was like hearing about your mom having sex. 

Colton snorted out a laugh and Binner wondered why he was interested in him in the first place. Only briefly. Because then Colton reached behind him to grab his fresh shirt and the muscles in his back stretched with him and Jordan really wanted to bite Colton’s shoulder blade and he really needed to get a grip, especially when he noticed the look Eddy was sending him across the room. He really did not want Eddy catching onto this…. whatever he was feeling for Colton.

Jaden stormed back into the locker room shortly after, Jordan increasingly thankful for the distraction that caused Eddy, who had opened his mouth to presumably yell something across the room at Jordan, muttering about dumbass Alphas and how this was not the way to win someone over and how there was no way in hell he was putting on one of their jerseys OR watching their game tonight.

“Jay,” Schenner laughed, catching the Omega as he stalked past, “breathe.”

“Bite me!” Jaden snapped, glaring as he grabbed his stuff and left.

“He’s definitely gonna say yes.” Colton grinned after a minute, Rob cackling in response.

“No.” Steener shook his head, always one to go with denial when it came to Jaden’s Alpha Situation, “No.”

“He’s growing up, Steener.” Petro placed a hand on the Swede’s shoulder, “Just gotta let that happen.”

“But with Toews and Kane?” Steener replied, “Can’t we find him some better options?”

Colton let out a snort as he stood up, grabbing his stuff, “I’m gonna go over to his, make sure he’s good.”

“Should I come, too?” Rob asked concerned.

“Probably a safe bet.” Colton nodded, “He would gladly shut the door in my face, but he would never dream of doing that to you.”

“You think he’s not okay?” Schenner asked, looking at the door like he was about running out after Jaden.

“I think he doesn’t know how to feel.” Colton replied, grabbing Rob and pulling him out the door with him.

With that Colton and Rob left, discussing their game plan for dealing with Jaden. Colton swore all it would take is for Rob to look at Jaden with sad eyes and a pout but Rob thought they might need a back-up plan in case Jaden’s anger gave him a temporary immunity to the pathetic look that usually got Rob what he wanted from the older Omega. 

When they got to Jaden’s, Colton unlocked the door and they made their way up to Jaden’s room. Colton sighed when he saw Jaden curled up on the bed, hugging himself, the lights off and his face buried in his arms.

“Oh, Jay,” Colton sighed, walking over and joining the older male on the bed, Rob going to the other side, both of them uncurling Jaden and then curling themselves around him.

“Talk to us.” Rob prompted, looking over at Jaden with wide eyes.

It looked like Jaden wasn’t going to respond, but then he said, “I think I want to say yes to them.”

“That’s so exciting!” Rob exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

“Then why do I feel like this?” Jaden’s eyes shone with unshed tears, tears he had been fighting for a while now and was still trying to fight.

“Because you don’t know what it’s like to let yourself be happy.” Colton replied, “And because your suppressants are shit and you really should move to better ones.”

Colton politely ignored the face Jaden made. They had been having the suppressant argument since Colton felt comfortable bringing up the topic. 

“But why does it have to be them?” Jaden muttered, glaring at his dick, like it was at fault for his situation.

“Because you appear to be the Omega of their dreams, and they’re the kind of Alphas you want,” Colton chuckled, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. He loved Jaden, he was a great role model on and off the ice, but he fought his Omega side so much. Most Alphas would have turned away or, more likely, tried to “train” him, but not Kane and Toews. They relished in Jaden’s behavior. He never treated them like everyone else did. They had to actually put work into impressing him, into getting so much as a smile from him.

“I haven’t done anything to deserve that.” Jaden hugged himself tighter, “I don’t freely give them affection, I barely respond to them when they text or send gifts, I don’t always answer the phone when one or both of them call, I can’t drop everything for them, I can’t…. I can’t give them the pups they want…. Not without taking a season or more off…”

“They know all that and they still, apparently, think the sun shines out of your ass.” Colton replied. After a moment, he sighed and said, “I know that anything I say right now is going to go in one ear and out the other, but I’m hoping some small part of that brain of your gloms onto it, but you are amazing. You have fought hard to get to where you are and I admire you so much.”

“Me, too.” Rob butted in from his spot tucked into Jaden’s side, face in the older Omega’s neck.

“For some unknown reason, Kane and Toews make you happy. Not just your Omega, but you. I’m not going to pretend to understand it. But you’ve let yourself be lonely for so long, between training and the season… you’ve been so busy looking after everyone that you’ve forgotten how to look after yourself. You’ve forgotten how to make yourself happy.”

“God, I hate feeling like this.” Jaden let out a shaky breath.

“Let us take care of you tonight for a change.” Colton nuzzled the top of Jaden’s head, “You call those Alphas of yours and we’ll order way too much Chinese food and binge watch Friends.”

Colton handed Jaden’s phone to him and stood up, pulling Rob with him.

“You know,” Rob stopped in the doorway, “I talked to Marns the day after the Dallas thing - the night of, too, but that was more of a quick check in call - and he mentioned that I was really lucky I had you. Everyone else was saying how lucky I was to have another Omega on the team, but he was one of the only ones who mentioned you in particular. And he was right. You’ve done so much for me since I got the call up. And I know that you don’t like being called a hockey mom, but you are. And I’m so thankful for that.”

Rob ducked back into the room real quick to nuzzle Jaden before letting Colton pull him away.

It’s later when they’re piled on Jaden’s couch with way too much food on the coffee table that Schwartzy turns to Colton and asked, “So, when are you gonna put Binner out of his misery?”

Colton laughs loudly and response, “I may ask him to spend my Summer Heat with me. See if that gives him a kick in the ass to make a move.”

Rob laughs delightedly at that and Jaden shakes his head, a smile spreading despite his efforts. Poor Binner.

3)

They won. They fucking won. It doesn’t seem real even as Colton is lifting Cup over his head. And Jordan is distracted from the celebration by Colton’s whole thing going on - the smiling, the laughing, the yelling, Laila - it’s all a lot and he feels a little like he can’t breathe when that grin is directed back at him.

Not only are they the first team to win the Cup for St. Louis, but they’re the first team to have more than one Omega to ever win the Cup and if Jaden got a little caught off guard by that fact, then he could just blame his voice cracking on the emotional moment of the ceremony and not by any means what this could mean. In the past, teams have been hesitant to have more than one Omega, blaming not wanting to mess with team cohesion and the stereotype that Omegas have difficulty getting along with other Omegas. But a team with three Omegas just won the Cup.

The night is a blur. Jordan thinks he remembers pining Colton against the shower wall and kissing him but he can’t remember if it actually happened or if it was something he just WANTED to do.

They’re back in St. Louis in the wee hours of the morning and there are fans waiting for them at the airport. That’s when it hits Binner how insane this summer is going to be, and - as he looks over at Colton - just how screwed he is. Colton is grinning like a madman and Jordan stopped short when he directed that smile right at him, breath catching and frozen in place until Jaden walked past him and snorted, shaking his head.

Jordan needed to get this under control. And fast. But then Joel was kidnapping him the next day and then driving them to Colton’s and dragging him inside, where a couple of the guys were already gathered.

“Colt!” Eddy yelled as he made his way toward Colton’s room, “I’m finding you an Alpha today. Someone to fuck you outside of heat!”

“No,” Colton replied, but Jordan knew when Colton knew he was fighting a losing battle and Joel was nothing if not determined to find Colton a fuck buddy for the night, or week, or however long Joel had in mind.

“Come on,” Joel pestered, disappearing into the bedroom and shutting the door behind him.

He did that a lot. Joel would amble off after Colton on the premise of being a pest but they would both come back feeling centered again. It wasn’t a hookup, Jordan would be able to smell that, but it was something. Joel brought out the wild in Colton and Colton reined in the wild in Joel, they balanced each other. Colton was, honestly, probably the reason Joel had not been arrested. Either he was there to stop it or Joel didn’t want to see the look of disapproval and/or disappointment on Colton’s face.

Joel would be a good mate for Colton. And that thought did not sit right with Jordan. In fact, it kind of burned and made him hate Joel...just a little. If Jordan was honest with himself, which was becoming far too common lately, seeing Joel parading Colton around whatever bar they were going to was enough to make him nauseous just thinking about it. To avoid going down that Rabbit Hole any further, he accepted the shot Sanny handed to him and let himself be pulled into the conversation happen.

“Where’s Schwartzy?” Joel asked, reemerging and dragging Colton with him, the Omega dressed in an outfit that was tight everywhere and that Eddy had obviously selected for him. Jordan distracted himself with a shot.

“Would you believe that Captain Serious and his little sidekick came down from Chicago?” Colton responded, laughing as Pear’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened.

“....Why?” Schenner looked like he really did not want to hear the answer to that question.

“Because Jaden called them after the plane landed.” Colton didn’t look up from pulling his shoes on and grabbing his wallet and keys, “To formally accept.”

“What?” Pear’s eyes narrowed and Schenner seemed to pale a little.

“It’s not really a surprise.” Colton rolled his eyes, “We all saw it coming.”

“Some of us were happily living in the land of denial.” Schenn replied, pulling his phone out and visibly debating calling Jaden, but obviously thought better of it. Because Jaden was petty enough to answer the phone while being fucked just because someone had dared to call, especially if that someone was one of his teammates.

“Oh, man,” Pear shook his head, “who’s gonna break the news to Steener?”

“You’ve known him longer.” Schenner immediately argued in favor of NOT being the one to do it.

“He’s not going to be able to be in denial anymore.” Pear shook his head sadly.

Schenner just shrugged in response and left the room to break the news to Vova.

They’re all at the bar when Pear breaks the news gently to Steener, who turns a glare at Schenn, “You couldn’t have just locked that down, could you?”

“We’ve talked about this.” Schenn rolled his eyes, “As much as Jaden and I are physically compatible, we are not good for each other. The friendship comes first. It always has.”

Steener continued to glare at Schenner like this whole thing was his fault for the next two minutes before Gunny distracted him a beer.

Meanwhile, Jordan was distracted by Joel parading Colton around like prized livestock, grinning at every offer to buy Colton a drink. When Joel got distracted by a pretty Beta, Colton managed to slip away and over to the table the guys had gathered around.

“Dance with me.” Colton grabbed Jordan, eyes frantic, “If I’m dancing with you, Joel will stop trying to sell me to the highest bidder.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Sammy replied.

“Every time someone bought me a drink, he would comment on how much it cost and use that to judge the worth of the person.” Colton’s tone was flat before taking a whiny twist as he turned back to Jordan, “Please.”

And Jordan could never deny Colton anything. So he allowed himself to be pulled onto the dancefloor, flipping off Fabs as he opened his mouth to yell something highly suggestive after them.

Once in the middle of the crowd, Colton spun around and placed Jordan’s hands on his hips and set their rhythm. A few minutes later, Jordan noticed several Alphas eyes Colton and pulled him in tighter, ignoring the smug look Joel sent him. Fuck Eddy. Fuck Eddy all the way. He had totally planned this. He shot Joel a glare before his eyes slipped shut after he caught Colton’s scent and he dropped his head down against the blond’s back, missing the small smirk on Colton’s face.

“You smell so good,” the words just jump out of Jordan’s mouth, he had no chance to stop them.

“You don’t smell so bad yourself.” Colton smirked over his shoulder and Jordan felt more than heard himself growl in response.

Before Jordan could respond, Colton’s head jerked toward the entrance, lighting up when Schwartzy walked in.

“Jay!” he exclaimed, once more grabbing Jordan and pulling him along with him back to the table.

“You came!” Colton’s eyes shone and he quickly ducked in to scent Jaden, laughing brightly at the throughly-claimed smell that covered up his usual scent. 

While he was distracted, Jordan slipped away to the bar and ordered the most expensive drink on the menu, nonchalantly setting it down in front of Colton and relishing in the bright eyes and knowing smile he got in return.

He watches as Schenner and Jaden share an indescribable look for a second before they fade into blinding smiles and Schenner is pulling the Omega into a near back-breaking hug and Jaden tucks his face into the neck of one of his oldest friends, his first heat partner, his mate in a different life.

“Your Alphas didn’t want to come out?” Eddy sends a shit eating grin at Jaden after he deemed the moment to be over.

“They’re a little worn out.” Jaden smirked, mostly at the mortified looks on Steener and Pear’s faces, “Leaving for a roadtrip at three in the morning will do that.”

“You’re awful.” Pear rolled his eyes.

“I mean, the sex was pretty tiring, too.” Jaden tagged on, near cackling as Steener downed the rest of his drink and headed to the bar, glaring at him as he passed.

“That was mean.” Schenner nudged him with his shoulder.

“But so much fun!” Jaden beamed.

Steener returns with a beer and whatever fancy cocktail he had been drinking before. Setting the beer down in front of Jaden, he said, “Congrats.”

“Thanks, Steener.” 

Jaden looked at him with soft eyes before pulling him into a hug, laughing when Steener returned it.

“Don’t expect me to congratulate them.” Steener said, pulling back, “In fact, I may never say one word to them off the ice.”

Jaden just laughed before letting Colton pull him out on the dance floor, Rob joining them after he noticed that they had left him. He pouted for a minute but was quickly appeased when Jaden smiled at the sight of him.

“His heat’s coming up you know.” Joel appears right next to Jordan, who definitely does not yelp.

“Whose heat?” Binner tries playing dumb.

“The beautiful Colton Parayko.” Eddy smirks back at him, “But you knew that already.”

“That you were talking about him or that his heat was coming up?”

“Both.”

“What do you want Eddy?”

Joel doesn’t respond right away, just grabs Jordan by the arm and drags him outside, slipping through the door out to the alley and leaving it propped open.

“I want you to Alpha up and make your move.” Joel rolls his eyes, “I didn’t dress Colt in his tightest clothes for him to take a strange Alpha home.

“Then why did you dress him in his tightest clothes?”

“So you would go home with him,” Joel rolls his eyes like it should have been obvious.

“Did you think about what he wants?” Jordan looked over.

“Dude, that’s ALL I think about.” Joel replied with an eye roll. After a minute he said, “Colt and I… I’ve never been his heat partner. Because I’m not mature enough, or restrained enough…. I would accidentally bond him. I’m not mature enough. I’m not like Schenner. I can’t separate Colton my friend and Colton the Omega. I would bond him without a second thought to what came after. I’m not mature enough for that level of commitment. So, instead, I try to help Colton find an Alpha worthy of him. Because he deserves to be the center of someone’s universe and I need to be the center of someone’s universe.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I think that Alpha is you.”

“Joel -”

“I’ve seen the way you look at him, the way you’ve always looked at him.” Joel pushes off of the wall, “But I’ve also seen the way he looks at you. He can only push so much. You need to make that first real step.”

For a minute Jordan thinks Joel is going to leave him outside but then Joel shoots him a smile, “Come on. I’m gonna try to pull, I can’t spend all night parading Colt around.”

And Jordan doesn’t want to see another Alpha hitting on Colton tonight - or ever - so he follows Eddy back inside. 

Scanning the bar, he spots Colton now behind the bar, mixing and serving drinks. 

“What can I get you?” Colton turned an easy grin to him as he approached, slightly more drunk than Jordan remembers him being before he remembers that Joel had gotten at least four Alphas to buy Colton drinks earlier in the night.

“I think just a beer.” Jordan grinned, not needing to specify because Colton was already putting a bottle of his favorite in front of him.

“You know,” Colton grinned as Jordan paid the actual bartender, “I work for tips.”

“Oh?” Jordan raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Colton nodded, leaning against the bartop, “It lets me know what I need to work on.”

“Don’t think that’s how tipping works.” Binner couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

“What kind of tip did I earn?” Colton presses on because somewhere in his drunk mind, that line made sense.

And it didn’t really matter if it actually made sense because Jordan was reaching across the bar and gripping the back of Colton’s head, pulling him into a searing kiss.

“That’s a hell of a tip.” Colton responded when they parted, breathing heavy.

“There’s way more where that came from.” Binner grins.

“Yeah?” Colton’s eyes were shining and it made it very hard for Jordan to focus.

“Yeah.” Jordan finally replied, voice coming in more of a whisper.

“My place or yours?” Colton raised an eyebrow.

“Yours.” Jordan replied, “Mine is more of a temporary living space.”

Colton grinned, walking around the side of the bar and taking his hand, pulling him back toward the team, most of who were cheering loudly after seeing the kiss. Not for the first time, Jordan was a little scared to look at Jaden, but the older Omega just whispered something to Colton before pushing the two of them toward the door and Colton ordered them a Lyft. 

Colton looks at his phone as they get in the car, laughing at the reminder Jaden had sent him to make sure he remembered what time they needed to be at Petro’s the next day and a reminder that he was close enough to his heat that he needed to make sure he was careful tonight. 

Colton took Jordan’s hand as the car moved, gaze focused on the street as they drove past and acutely aware that Jordan’s gaze was focused on him.

They make it back to Colton’s, to his fucking house, and Jordan can’t resist the urge to press him against the door as soon as it was closed. They barely separated as they make their way to Colton’s bedroom. Colton had the sense to set his alarm and plug his phone in before shoving Jordan down onto the bed and straddled him, grinding down and he connected their lips. 

Jordan chokes on his breath when Colton starts rocking his hips in earnest. He lets the Omega take the lead for a bit, catching Colton completely off guard when he flips them. It was his turn to be cocky, he thought as he smirked down at Colton’s surprised expression.

“Did you think you’d be running this show?” Jordan asked, trailing a finger down Colton’s neck and applying pressure to the spot where his bonding mark would eventually go. Colton’s eyes fluttered shut and his breath hitched. 

Jordan stares at him for a minute longer before leaning down and capturing his mouth, making quick work of their clothes. 

And Colton… Colton is everything Jordan thought he would be and more. And he knows, for sure, that he is one hundred percent screwed and he wants nothing more than to Court this man beneath him. And that thought hit Jordan like a freight train and he busies himself with leaving a large hickey on the opposite of where Colton’s Mark will go.

Colton flips them again, when Jordan is too distracted by his method of trying to distract himself from how easy it would be to claim the Omega. He smirks down at Jordan as he makes his way down the goalie’s body, all teasing touches (with both fingers and his tongue), and Jordan’s hand finds its way into Colton’s hair, trying to guide his mouth to where he really wants it.

“Tell me what you want, Alpha.” Colton looks up at Jordan through his lashes.

“I think that much is pretty obvious.” Jordan grounds out as he rolls his hips up.

“Hmmm,” Colton hums, “but I want to hear you say it.”

“I want your mouth.” Jordan mutters, both frustrated and extremely turned on.

“You had my mouth.” Colton’s smirking now and Jordan wants nothing more than to wipe that look off his face.

“I want you to suck my dick.” Jordan glared.

Colton was silent for a minute and Jordan thought for sure he was going to get another smart comment from the blonde. But a moment later, his dick was in Colton’s mouth and he dropped his head back to the bed, thrusting his hips just slightly.

All too soon, Colton was pulling off. At Jordan’s definitely-not-a-whine, he chuckled, voice rough, “Don’t want you finishing before the main event.”

“And what would that be?” Jordan asked, surprising Colton again by flipping them over, “What do you want, Colt?”

“Want you.” Colton breathed out, looking up at Jordan with an earnestness that made the Alpha weak.

“Want me to what?” Jordan pushed.

“Want you to fuck me.” Colton rolled his hips up, “Want you to spend my heat with me. Want you.”

And if Jordan’s brain hadn’t been fried already, it definitely was now. He would have to circle back to the whole Heat thing, but he could definitely handle fucking Colton right now. He wanted nothing more. He nods and Colton reaches into the nightstand to grab a condom.

He makes quick work of opening Colton up, at the Omega’s urging (Colton gives him an honest-to-God death glare when Jordan suggests that maybe he should take a little more time), and his eyes slip closed as he slides into the Omega. They both lay there, trying to keep their breathing under control until Colton is telling him that he better start moving.

Jordan didn’t know what sex with Colton would be like. He certainly did not expect him to be submissive, but he definitely didn’t expect this… this Colton who was demand-y and a bit of a brat. And Jordan loved it. Especially right now, when the brattiness faded into whines. He’s still demand-y, however, and Binner had never really liked that in the past. But right now, but with Colton, he couldn’t get enough.

He bites down on Colton’s neck, on the spot right below his right ear that Jordan had found out earlier was super sensitive, and they both topple over the edge shortly after and Jordan collapses on top of the blond, his knot tying them together.

Both breathe heavily for several moments before Colton says, “So...my heat? What do you say?”

Jordan huffs out a laugh and respondes, “Of course. Maybe... I can start Courting you?”

“When?” Colton gave him an assessing look.

“Before your heat or after.” Jordan responds, “I don’t really know the protocol for this. Definitely wasn’t covered in Health class.”

Colton laughs, smiling widely, “My heat’s in a couple of weeks. You can can start Courting me before then.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Colton smiled softly before yawning and saying, “And you can start by staying here tonight.”

“I wasn’t gonna leave unless you kicked me out anyway.” Jordan smiled fondly, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Colton smiled one more time before letting his eyes slip shut.

Jordan woke up to find Colton not in the room. He pulled on his briefs from the night before and headed out of the room, following the sounds of Colton puttering around in his kitchen, smiling at the sight of the naked Omega leaning against the counter and cradling a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Good Morning.” Colton smiled brightly when he finally picked up on Jordan’s presence.

“Morning.” Jordan replied, joining Colton at the counter and kissing him, smirking into it slightly when the blond moaned.

“I’m gonna take a shower.” Colton said, pulling away.

“Maybe I should join you.” Jordan smirked.

Colton laughed in response, kissing him again, before saying, “We don’t have time for that. I can guarentee Edds is going to on time for the first time in his fucking life on the chance that we are late.”

Jordan had to admit he was right, but it would maybe be worth it to have Colton smelling thoroughly like him.

“You can use the other shower,” Colton replied, “I have a drawer of your stuff in the guest room. It’s labeled.”

“There’s no way I have left enough things here for there to be drawer.” Jordan rolled his eyes.

“Between what you, Eddy, and Fabs have accidentally left here, I could open my own store.” Colton responded, heading back toward his room and the en suite.

Jordan shook his head with a smile, waiting until he heard the shower turn on before grabbing his phone and calling Schwartzy, praying that he wasn’t interrupting anything.

“Good Morning, Jordan.” Jaden answered the phone and Binner could hear the smirk, “How was your night?”

Jordan chose to ignore the teasing tone, cutting right to the chase, “What’s a typical first Courting gift?”

“So a very good night.” Jaden’s smirk grew and Binner could practically feel the smugness radiating through the phone.

“Look,” Jordan tried not to sound like he was begging, “I need help. I don’t want to screw this up.”

“A claiming item.” Jaden responded, continuing the task Binner had interrupted, “It’s usually something small that can be displayed somehow, but also not flashy.”

“What did you get?” Jordan asked, trying to think back to when Jaden’s Courting Process must have started, they were all still unsure of the exact timeline.

“Toews got me a wristband and Kane got me a tie.” Jaden responded, leaning away from the phone to greet whoever just walked into the room. 

Jordan nodded, knowing Jaden couldn’t see him. He remembered it now. Jaden had started wearing the same tie on game days and an almost delicate bracelet anytime he wasn’t on the ice. The guys thought the tie was just a superstition and they really should have thought more of the bracelet after Jordan remembered the way both Rob and Colton reacted to it. And it definitely wasn’t as flashy as the ring-necklace combo the Tkachuk boys had given Rob.

“What would you suggest?” Jordan asked, listening as Jaden threatened whoever had joined him in the kitchen with bodily harm and said that the food was going to Petro’s and that they could have anything else in the kitchen.

“For Colt?” Jaden came back to paying attention to the goalie, “Maybe a necklace.”

“A necklace?”

“One of those leather ones, with the metal charm.”

“He would like that?”

“He would like anything you give him.”

And that answer should make Jordan feel better but he just felt added pressure. Almost as if he sensed it, Jaden said, “Look, it’s your first gift. It’s supposed to be simple and meaningful, but it’s the symbol of your future relationship. It’s not your foundation, it’s not something you build on.”

“Thanks, Schwartzy.” Jordan finally spoke.

“Anytime.” Jaden grinned, “I have a book you can borrow. Stop by tomorrow.”

Jordan was extremely grateful that Jaden wasn’t bringing it today. He really didn’t need to see Joel’s reaction to him needing a book to tell him how to Court Colton. Binner quickly hung up when he heard Jaden’s breath hitch on the other end of the phone call.

A minute later his phone chimed with a link Jaden had sent him. Opening it, Jordan smiled widely, bookmarking the page to come back to when he didn’t run the risk of Colton seeing it. He showered quickly and was genuinely shocked when he saw how full his drawer was. He felt less bad when he saw that Eddy had three. He chose a pair of skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt and headed back to the living room, not bothering with actually eating anything since they would be going to Petro’s for a BBQ and private celebration, just the team and their families, in less than an hour.

“Think Jay’s gonna drag his Alphas with him?” Colton asked, entering wearing shorts and a white shirt.

“Don’t know if they’d want to.” Binner shrugged.

“It’s not about what they want,” Colton shook his head fondly, “It’s about what Jaden can convince them to do.”

“I really don’t want to think about his persuasion methods.”

Colton just laughed brightly before joining Binner on the couch, “We making an announcement to the team today?”

“Well, Eddy has zero ability to keep a secret, so my guess is that everyone knows already. Even guys who didn’t see us leave together last night. With the way your neck looks, there’s really not a doubt of what happened.” Jordan replied, “But we can make an announcement, if you want.”

“I think Eddy may make it for us.” Colton laughed, smiling widely before kissing Jordan.

Sure enough, when they arrived, Eddy yelled, “Congrats on the sex!” with the complete disregard of the children who were present and Colton went bright red.

The rest of the day went by without much added excitement. Rob arrived with two bright red Claiming Marks an hour after everyone else had gotten there. The kids all keep Jaden busy, Aleksandr trying to cover up the new smells on him that the four year old didn’t like. Some of the parents eventually took pity on Schwartzy and managed to convince the kids to give him a break, Aleksandr being the only one who didn’t. He clung tightly to Jaden and pouted up at his dad, who just shook his head as Jaden picked the four year old up and let him bury his face his the Omega’s neck for another few minutes before Jaden set him down again and he ran off.

“Not able to convince your Alphas to come?” Petro asked as Jaden joined him and Steener.

“I think they came plenty.” Jaden replied with a straight face, laughing at the horrified looks he got in return.

“You know what I meant!” Alex glared at the shorter male, “I know you know what I meant.”

“They’re still a little sore about their season.” Jaden replied, “I didn’t want them to feel like I’m rubbing it in, you know? I didn’t even expect them to drive down right away…. I didn’t expect it at all actually… I don’t even know why they were the first people I wanted to talk to after we won… why I called them as soon as the plane landed… why I couldn’t wait a few more hours.”

“Because you wanted to share your happiness with your mates.” Petro replied with a smile, “I’m not going to pretend to understand why them, but they make you happy.”

“I want them at the parade and to join me on my day with the Cup, but I don’t want them to think I’m rubbing it in.”

“Ask them to watch from your house, that way they don’t have to be there in person.” Steener advised, “And I’m sure they’d want to join you on your Day. It’s a chance for them to see where you come from.”

“It’s a chance for them to meet Mandi.” Schenner added as he joined them, “And that’s enough reason for them to want to go with you.”

Jaden smiled over at him, “Thank you.”

Schenn just bumped his shoulder against Jaden’s in response.

Off season went as normal as it could go. The main difference was all the Cup festivities and the fact that Patrick and Jonathan joined Jaden in his usual summer training and he joined them in theirs. They did go away together, for a whole week. Jonathan had gotten them a cabin in the forests of Canada. It was away from everything, with terrible to no cell service and a lake, and it was perfect.

They did all get their own petty amusement when, in July, Towes opened his mouth and said in an interview that not a single bit of him was happy for the Blues. Jaden had narrowed his eyes upon hearing that and his retribution was long and drawn out and there was nothing his teammates loved seeing more than his petty and vindictive side coming together.

Somehow Toews managed to come back from it, much to Steener’s disappointment, and only Schenner had made the mistake of asking for details on how, exactly, he had made up for it. There was now definitive proof that Jaden had both his Alpha wound tightly around his little finger and was not afraid to flaunt it. By the time Training Camp rolled around, he was proudly sporting their Marks and they his rings - metal in a dark navy because he was petty and not quite over their remarks regarding the Cup win. They wouldn’t have had him any other way.

Apparently, Matty and Brady weren't supposed to actually claim Rob when they did and spent half the summer in the doghouse with their dad. But Rob was happy as could be, which made Walt’s anger ease a little and definitely confirmed that Rob had become his favorite son. Rob had presented Matt and Brady with their rings during a family dinner, so that they could wear Rob’s claim. They were just a simple gold band with a date engraved on the inside - the day they asked if they could Court him.

Jordan spent most of the offseason surrounded by Colton. They both had their training camps that they attended, but in between they either shut themselves away in Colton’s house or travelled together, where it was to see family or just spend time together, enjoying the growing bond building between them. Colton proudly displayed the necklace Jordan had given him, rarely took it off, and pride sparked in him every time Binner caught sight of it. And Colton…. Colton was everything Binner ever thought he wanted or needed. He was everything.

When they got the word that Joel was traded, Binner saw Colton pale. Joel was Colton’s rock, his steady ship when the storm picked up and the seas got too rough around him. They were thankful to get the chance, however brief, to say their goodbyes to him - Colton and Joel clinging to each other tightly in their good-bye.

Jordan’s phone chimed as he watched Colton busy himself with cleaning up, he looked down and saw the text from Eddy, “Look after him.”

“I promise.” Jordan replied instantly, shoving his phone in his pocket and joining Colton.

Smiling to himself at the sight of the new wristband Colton was sporting, he dutifully loaded the dishwasher for the blond. It was his job to look after Colton. But, more than that, it was his pleasure to look after Colton. He was Jordan’s Omega. But, more than that, he was Colton’s Alpha and he would give his life to keep Colton safe and happy.


End file.
